Keep the Ordinances, As I Delivered Them - Lesson Outline

Lesson 34: “Keep the Ordinances, As I Delivered Them”," New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2002)

1. Introduction

a) Continue with Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians

b) Remember, Paul is dealing with some significant doctrinal problems, apostasy of the type he will battle over and over

c) As we consider the problems he identifies and the advice he gives, we should remember that these are time-tested mistakes that lead us away from the Gospel.

i) We can point to many ways in which our society is more advanced than that of early Christians in Corinth,

ii) Human nature never changes.

iii) Human weaknesses never change

iv) Satan is the same today as he was during Paul’s time

(1) He is happy to re-use all the tricks that worked before.

d) READ 1 Corinthians 11:2

2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

2. The purpose of the sacrament

a) Reading 1 – 1 Corinthians 11:17-20, 23-29

17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

NOTE: Footnote A: Is it not to eat the Lord’s supper?

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23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

i) Paul is asking, “How can you come together on the sabbath and have division among you? How can there be divisions when you take the sacrament if there are not apostate doctrines as well?

(1) If this was the case, some of the Corinthians were unworthy to take the Sacrament – another apostasy

(2) The Corinthians are not keeping the ordinances as Paul delivered them

ii) Why was Christ’s body broken and His blood shed? Was it for Christ’s benefit?

iii) It was for us this happened, because of Christ’s pure love for us.

iv) The Sacrament is an ordinance that includes a powerful reminder of how much Christ loves us.

v) When Christ was visiting the Nephites, he repeatedly lead them in the Sacrament

b) Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 59:8-9

8 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

c) Reading 3 – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “With so very much at stake, [the sacrament] should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. As such it should not be rushed. It is not something to ‘get over’ so that the real purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 89; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 68).

d) Reading 4 – President David O. McKay wrote: "The partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is one of the most sacred ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ. Associated with it are principles fundamental in character building and essential to man's advancement and exaltation in the kingdom of God. Too few communicants attach to this simple though sublime rite the importance and significance that it merits. Unfortunately, the form of worship is frequently an outward—compliance without the true soul acknowledgment of its deep spiritual significance." (Gospel Ideals, p71)

3. The importance of all spiritual gifts

a) The Saints in Corinth may have placed too much importance on the gift of tongues

i) In some instances, the baptism of the Holy Ghost was accompanied by the gift of tongues

(1) Pentecost

(2) Baptism of Appolos

ii) The Saints somehow placed this gift above other gifts of the spirit

b) Reading 5 – 1 Corinthians 12:1,7-11

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

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7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

i) The gifts of the spirit are many and varied

ii) Reading 6 – Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "If the saints are to be saved, they must accept, understand, and experience the gifts of the Spirit. Since religion itself is of the Spirit, and deals with spiritual things, it can be received and known only by the power of the Spirit. Thus where the gifts of the Spirit are manifest, there is true religion; and where the gifts of the Spirit are not manifest, there true religion is not." (DNTC, 2:366)

“These gifts are infinite in number and endless in their manifestations because God himself is infinite and endless, and because the needs of those who receive them are as numerous, varied, and different as there are people in the kingdom. All saints are commanded to seek earnestly the best gifts.” ((Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.270 – p.271)

c) ASK: Is it wrong to seek for spiritual gifts? Is this like seeking for a sign?

i) READ Doctrine and Covenants 46:8-9

8 Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;

9 For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts.

d) ASK: With all the spiritual gifts, is there one that is placed above all others?

i) Reading 7 – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,8,13

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

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8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

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13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

e) ASK: If Charity is the greatest of all the gifts of God, who possesses more of it than any other mortal who ever walked the earth?

f) READ – 3d Article of Faith: We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

i) The ordinances of the Gospel are expressions of the Savior’s love for us. Each ordinance bestows on us one of the blessings of the Atonement that He made possible for us. Through each ordinance we accept His expression of love and covenant to return His love by obeying his commandments.

(1) Baptism

(a) Water for repentance

(b) Gift of the Holy Ghost

(2) Sacrament

(a) Renew baptismal covenants

(3) Temple Ordinances

(a) Initiatories

(b) Endowment

(c) Sealing

4. The Resurrection and the degrees of glory

a) Many of the Corinthians had begun to dispute the reality of the Resurrection

b) READ 1 Corinthians 15:12

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

c) Paul teaches the Resurrection in detail

i) Reading 8 – 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

(1) Many witnesses to the resurrection

ii) Reading 9 – 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

(1) The necessity of a Savior and a resurrection

iii) READ Romans 6:3-6

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

iv) READ: 1 Corinthians 15:29,32

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

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32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

(1) Paul cites baptism for the dead as evidence of the resurrection

(2) Paul’s own courage in going in with the beasts in Ephesus is evidence of his belief in resurrection

d) Three Degrees of Glory

i) As Paul teaches of the Resurrection, he teaches what happens after the resurrection as well

ii) Reading 10 – 1 Corinthians 15:35-44

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption [mortality]; it is raised in incorruption [immortality]

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.